16 
THE COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
a frothy material, dark in color. There are occasional hemorrhages in the 
lining of the intestines. The spleen may be enlarged and its contents soft. 
Small hemorrhages may be found in the heart, its coverings and other parts. 
The kidneys are dark, enlarged and soft, indicating active and passive con¬ 
gestion and cloudy swelling. The blood does not coagulate readily and is 
found upon microscopic examination to be teeming with germs. 
MODE OF PERFORMING AUTOPSY.—Lay the hen on her back. With 
a sharp knife open the abdominal wall, commencing close to the anus, passing 
the knife forward between the ribs and breast bone to a point just back of 
the “wish-bone.” In like manner open the other side being careful not to in¬ 
jure any of the organs in the cavities. Now grasp the sternum or breast 
bone, forcing it forward so that it will break. It can then be removed easily. 
This will lay the cavities open so that all organs can be observed as illustrated 
and named in Fig. 1, to which the reader is referred. 
TREATMENT.—Eradication.—The germs are found in the discharge 
from the bowels, and by the feet of other birds the infection is carried into 
feed and water troughs, or is picked up from the ground with food. Birds 
should be fed and watered in troughs frequently disinfected with five per 
cent carbolic acid. Sick birds should be immediately removed from the flock, 
and the dead ones should be cremated. The hen house and nests should be 
disinfected with formaldehyde as follows: Close tightly all doors, windows 
and other openings and for each 1,000 square feet of space in the building, 
use 20 ounces of formaldehyde (40 per cent) and 16% ounces permanganate 
of potash. Place these two materials in a vessel and place in the middle of 
the room and leave for several hours. The yard should be cleaned every day. 
If the yard is small, it may be disinfected by covering with straw and burn¬ 
ing. For the birds, intestinal antiseptics are indicated, the 30 grain veteri¬ 
nary sulphocarbolates compound giving us by far the best results. Other 
intestinal antiseptics are, hydrochloric acid, one teaspoonful to each quart of 
water; one percent copperas; one-half percent permanganate of potash. Vac¬ 
cination with vaccine made from the germs has given excellent results. 
BLACK HEAD (Entero-hepatitis) 
CAUSE.—This disease is due to a protozoon, microscopic in size, which 
is found in the diseased areas of the caeca (blind pouches) and liver of tur¬ 
keys, and rarely in chickens. 
MODE OF SPREAD.—As will be seen later, the protozoon escapes from 
ulcers in the caeca and passes out with the feces. Foods or water con¬ 
taminated with the excrements carry the disease germ to other birds. Chronic 
cases in older turkeys or chickens may keep the premises infected for a long 
time. These germs entering the liver and mucous membrane of the caeca 
cause inflammation and degeneration. Usually the caeca become infected 
first, and later the liver becomes invaded. 
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